By Gintautas Dumcius
Reporter Correspondent

The first murder of the year was the result of a shootout that followed a baby shower, police said.

Rayon Gillespie, of Dorchester, was charged this week with murdering 23-year-old Joseph Clark on Jan. 6. Dorchester District Court Judge Kenneth Desmond ordered Gillespie, also 23, to be held without bail and that he return to court on Feb. 13.

Prosecutors told the court that Gillespie had been invited to a Norton St. baby shower, as had Clarke, who was romantically involved with a young pregnant woman. The woman was pregnant with Gillespie's child.

Clarke and the woman started walking towards Bowdoin Street at 1:45 on Sunday morning, as Gillespie followed.

Clarke and Gillespie then fought, with both pulling guns from their waistbands. Both shot at each other, according to police, with Clarke getting hit in the head. They allege that Gillespie then fled he scene in a car, walking into Boston Police station later with his attorney.

According to Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conleys office, homicide detectives and Suffolk prosecutors in a grand jury are continuing to investigate the shooting.

Man allegedly tries to toss out girlfriend from grandparents' house

A 21-year-old man was arraigned this week in Dorchester District Court on charges that he assaulted his girlfriend in an attempt to get her out of his grandparents' home.

Rashod Wilson Payne, of 165 Westville St., was held on $5,000 bail. He is due in Boston Municipal Court on Jan. 22. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.

Prosecutors alleged that on Jan. 14, around 3 p.m., officers responded to a domestic violence call.

The victim was having a verbal argument when it turned physical, police say. She tried to call her mother, but the suspect took her cell phone and pushed her away. Then he hit her in the eye with a green weight, prosecutors said.

The victim ran downstairs to the suspect's grandmother's apartment and again tried to call her mother, but the grandmother hung up the phone, according to police.

The victim then saw her items being tossed out of the third floor window.

The victim told police that Payne had a semi-automatic gun, inside his black jacket. Police say they found a gun with 7 bullets and a "large" bag of marijuana.

She and the suspect had been dating for a year and a half and had lived together for a month, according to prosecutors.

Payne's attorney, who declined to provide his name after the arraignment, said the incident was "not as colorful" as the victim made it out to be.

"She knew an awful lot about the gun," he told the court, noting that there is no evidence pointing to the gun being his client's.

The attorney also said his client has a "medical condition." "His condition alone does not allow for what the victim says he did," he said.

Boston police haul in one of their own

Boston Police officers had to cuff one of their own this week, in connection with a Friday afternoon armed robbery of a Roslindale gas station.

Michael T. Jones, 43, a Dorchester resident and 20-year member of the force, was arraigned this week from his bed at Faulkner Hospital, held on $50,000 cash bail.

Jones, who is due back in court on Feb. 6, pled not guilty. Jones was recently assigned as a patrol officer in Hyde Park.

According to police, Jones allegedly went behind the counter of the Best of Boston Gas Station, showing a station employee a handgun and grabbing cash from the register. Witnesses were able to identify the license plate of the car he allegedly fled in. He was later pulled over at the corner of Gleason and Bradshaw Streets.

His arrest brought swift condemnation from law enforcement officials.

"This defendant is accused of terrorizing his victims with a firearm and robbing them," said Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley in a statement.

Conviction in fatal Armadine St. stabbing

A Suffolk County jury last week convicted a Dorchester man in the first-degree murder of his wife.

Nile J. Reavis, 42, was convicted of fatally stabbing his wife, Sandra Reavis, 38, in their Armadine St. home in November 2006. Prosecutors alleged he stabbed his wife as she slept six times in the neck and chest with a kitchen knife. Prosecutors said jealousy was the focus of his rage.

Reavis was due to be sentenced on Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court.

Gintautas Dumcius covers court proceedings and law enforcement for the Reporter. He can be reached at gin.dumcius@gmail.com.

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